RANT ~ Monday, July 16, 2001 ~ 9:11PM

Quote of the Day: "She's the freakin' LADY of Avalon! She can part the damn mists!" - Elizabeth

I just got done watching TNT's version of The Mists of Avalon. I am a big fan of Marion Zimmer Bradly's book and that movie was THE POOREST EXCUSE FOR A FILM ADAPTATION I HAVE EVER SEEN.

I know filmmakers often take liberties with movies they create from books, but to rewrite the entire story? That's a bit excessive. The entire second half shown tonight was WRONG. Most of the never happened and what was actually taken from the book happened in a very different manner.

Morgause never died, she lived to a ripe old age as queen after Lot died. She also never cursed Gwenhyfar and was NOT an evil sorceress. Viviane died, but not at Mordred's hand. The Merlin died, and Kevin the Bard took his place. Gwenhyfar went into the convent much later after persuading Arthur to thrown down the banner of Avalon and raise the Christian banner in its place. Igraine died very shortly after going to the convent - she was NEVER Mother Superior and the idea is laughable. Accolon lead Morgaine's army agaist Arthur and was killed - Uriens died after him. Morgaine returned to Arthur to retrieve the charmed scabbard she's given him AND the holy relics of Avalon that were being misused. She succeeded and returned to Avalon as Lady of the Lake.

And that's only a fragment of what was wrong with the movie. They rewrote the plot, Christianized it beyond all tolerance, changed characters around with reckless abandon, and all in all, butchered it. I'm certain that Marion Zimmer Bradley is rolling in her grave this very moment.

It is total desecration to ruin an author's work as TNT has done with Mists. I still cannot believe their total divergance from anything resembling the actual story and I find it totally deplorable. Please, if you haven't seen the movie, don't. And whether you have or haven't seen it, DO read the book.

Hour of Doom ~ Sunday, July 15, 2001 ~ 5:04 PM

3AM to 4AM is the Hell Hour, MY hell hour. If I need to stay awake, it's the hour when I most want to sleep and if I survive that hour, I'm good to go for another day. But if I want to go to sleep, it's the hour I stay awake, staring at the cieling while my brain skitters around my skull like a hamster in its wheel, going round and round and round with all the furious energy the little thing can muster, never getting anywhere.

Last night the hell hour struck with a vengance. I lay awake, thinking about everything and anything. The moment one thought went out of my mind, another popped up in its place. I lay awake, problem solving, planning, and worrying the entire hour, wishing for sleep. But no, my brain decided it had things to do, thank you very much, and so it proceeded to do them, despite my protests at having my head hijacked. I hate the hell hour.

Today someone I've never met before in my life offered me quite a lot of money to do a commissioned sketch for him. He'd seen my sketches on my website and decided he liked them. Then he got confused and thought that Sarah Dungan's site was another site of mine, for a different style of artwork. And she does commissions. I don't because I'm not an artist. But he offered me $200.

0.0 Excuse me? Could you please repeat that?? Yes, yes, okay, I didn't miss it the first time.....you did say $200.

Now, I don't know much about selling artwork, but that seems a bit excessive. Especially since I'm not that good and I don't know him. I couldn't accept it, of course, so I offered to draw him something for free, as a gift. If he feels it merits payment, he's free to give me whatever amount he wants. But I don't feel right about selling my sketches, especially for that much. I'll retain copyrights and all he'll get is a pretty wall decoration as a gift and everyone will be happy. I think.

That's the weirdest thing that has happened to me this week. Boy, that is a lot of money.

Current Music: 'Spaceless' - Andreas Johnson

RANT ~ Tuesday, July 10, 2001 ~ 11:19 PM

Background:

"Organizations 'of good conscience' should stay away from Mississippi as long as the Confederate battle flag remains an emblem on the state's flag, civil rights activists decided on Tuesday." The NAACP has called for the removal of all Confederate flags on display, except in museums. This includes the one on the Mississippi state flag.

Rant:

Having lived in the South all my life, I have to say that I feel the Confederate flag to be just as representative of my culture as any African American or Asian American or Latino feels aspects of their heritage to be of theirs. I love the South and I am proud of its unique history. I am not, however, racist in any form or fashion, I do not support the Klan, and I most certainly do not appreciate being labeled as one who does. And I am sure that those in Mississippi who love their heritage as much as I also do not appreciate it.

You see, the Confederate flag, no matter how it may have been misused as of late, represents the Confederacy, NOT the Klan or slavery or racism. The Civil War was not fought over slavery. The Confederate flag stands as much for slavery as does the American flag or the British flag. Many people all over the world practiced slavery. It doesn't make it right, but it also doesn't make the South any more inherently evil than other regions. The Civil War was fought over states rights. And for me, the Confederate Flag represents those who were strong enough to stand up and fight for what they believed was right. They may have lost in the end, but that doesn't make their effort any less noble. I resent the statements that attempt to make their sacrifices and their ideals nothing but the misguided dreams of some rednecked idiot. I would also remind everyone of what not only the soldiers, but also the civilians (that includes slaves, you numbskulls) suffered at the hands of the Union Army. War is never pretty and history is written by the winner, but this penchant the nation has for portraying the South as racist and evil is irritating, to say the least. Particuarly when the crimes of which it is accused are found so rampant everywhere.

Not that it really matters. The Civil War is 140 years in the past. It is a part of history. If someone were to demand the boycott of anything related to African American history, the NAACP would react to "protect the rights" of African American citizens. Who will do the same for us now that it is the other way around?

As always, comments are welcome at Starfire_Child@yahoo.com.

Cake and Sheer Desperation ~ Sunday, July 8, 2001 ~ 9:59 PM

9:59 PM. One minute before my brain shuts down completely from all forms of school work. I am rapidly devouring a piece of homemade German chocolate cake. My parents sent it back with me when they dropped me off in hell this afternoon. There went the last bite.....now there's nothing to keep the insanity at bay.

You see, my mind has been crushed. I'm about two steps away from going on some sort of insane killing spree around campus. You might think it's hard to commit mass murder when armed with only a Pentel 0.5 lead mechanical pencil, but I assure you you have no idea what overworked engineers are capable of. I've been working on this lab report for far too long. I believe the total number of hours spent is hovering somewhere between sixteen hours and eternity. All for a one hour lab credit. The worst part is that I also have a test in the class tomorrow afternoon and I have not yet had a chance to study for it. And now, since it is past 10, I'll just have to study tomorrow after my lab.

I had a good weekend at home. Got my nervous breakdown out of the way, although my poor parents had to deal with me verbally lashing everything in my way. I feel really bad about that, but I claim temporary insanity. My parents sent me back with lots of wonderful homemmade food and were very supportive the entire weekend. I really did need the time at home, although I really wish Dr. Weimer hadn't rescheduled our test for this Monday. *grumble*

My sister's still in Greece. Her cruise starts Monday morning (about midnight our time). I think she's pretty homesick and rather tired of the tourist's life, but I hope she'll have fun. I'm worried about her getting into trouble there and I'm worried about her getting hurt, but I hope she's having a wonderful time.

Tomorrow is going to be a very long day.

Current Music: 'Glorious' - Andreas Johnson

Summer ~ Tuesday, July 3, 2001 ~ 11:26 AM

Quote of the Day: "I try to take one day at a time, but sometimes several days attack me at once." - Jennifer Unlimited

I really love summers. Always have. Unfortunantly, with the advent of college summers have kind of lost a lot of their previous luster, but they're still relaxing compared to the rest of the year. So I enjoy my summer while I can! And, tomorrow Jessica and I intend to fully celebrate the fourth of July with all kinds of yummy foods and drinks, movies, and sleep. Whee!

Still, over the last fews days, I've found myself wishing this summer was more like last summer. I think it has something to do with Spencer's friend Chris, who is visiting this week. He graduated last summer, but he was so much fun to have around. *sigh* It just seems like the group of friends I had last year has kind of drifted apart. I still talk to all of them and hang out with most of them, but not all of us together. There were times when all of us would go hang out at the park or at Denny's, but now half of them never leave their apartments. It's weird.

Jeff and I aren't really getting along. He keeps either not calling me or calling specifically to tell me that his other friends are more important and he'll get back to me if he has the time during his busy schedual of social interaction. *sigh* I never considered it too difficult to take 30 minutes out of my day, but I guess we have different priorities. Still, I'm to the point of actively seeking a target to strangle alive. I don't really know what else to do.

I'm headed home this weekend to visit with my parents. I'll have to spend most of the weekend studying for my NatProp test, but my mom and I are already planning to hang out and watch movies and stuff. :-) I think it should be a lot of fun.

Hope everyone has a Happy Fourth of July!!!

Current Music: 'Don't Think of Me' - Dido

RANT ~ Monday, July 2, 2001 ~ 8:19 AM

Last night I had quite a bit of trouble falling asleep. You see, I had accidentally slept until 11:30 that morning, so when 11:30 at night rolled around, my body did not exactly want to cooperate. I tossed and turned for an hour and a half as the 6AM deadline seemed to creep closer and closer. Finally, I managed to doze off. Then the unthinkable happened.

At 2:15 AM I was jolted out of sleep by blaring music. Frantically I clawed at my radio, trying to make the hideous noises stop, as my bedside lamp began to shake from the bass. Then I heard people screaming and realized that it wasn't my radio, but a party outside. At that point, the frantic semi-conscious attempts to silence the noises that had awakened me turned into pure rage directed at those responsible. Motivated by nothing more than an intense desire to KILL whatever idiot decided to have an obscenely loud party early on Monday morning, when so many of us have either class or work at 8AM, I sat bolt upright in bed already contemplating how many ways I would make them pay. I could hear the blood rushing in my ears, the world took on a peculiar shade of red, and I knew that someone had to die.

I faintly remember wishing for an automatic weapon with which to mow all the partygoers down. Since that wasn't available, I decided that the length of schedule 80 PVC pipe I had somewhere in my closet would do as a substitute. But I was still too groggy to remember exactly where the pipe was, so I decided to simply rip them apart with my bare hands. I was barreling down the hallway, pulling on my jeans as I went, when suddenly the bloodlust cleared just enough for me to remember that this was the type of situation in which I was supposed to call the RA.

So I stopped and called him. *sigh* Unfortunately, it was the idiot RA of my building who was on duty. He was probably one of the people at the party, but I told him to go an inflict much hurt on the loud people anyway. The music eventually quieted down, but I didn't hear any screams of pain, so I don't think he quite carried out my request. I, in the meantime, had once again donned pajamas in an attempt to keep myself confined to my dorm room, lest much blood be spilled.

So then it was quiet again. But my rage at being woken up only grew. The sheer inconsideration those people displayed to the rest of the students...I can't even begin to describe how much hatred and fury that evokes. You have to take at least one class to stay in University Housing, so it's not like I'm the only one here taking classes. They KNEW people had to work or go to class and they JUST DIDN'T CARE. Perhaps it shouldn't, but it still shocks me to encounter such inherently BAD people. Hence my desire to remove them from the gene pool. I tried to go back to sleep finally at 2:45, once it was quiet again, but I could only lay there and grind my teeth together. For the next two and a half hours all I wanted was to exterminate every single last one of them. I finally fell back asleep around 5:15, but was again awakened at 6, this time by my alarm clock.

I just can't believe how little people care about each other. It still shocks me, even though I see it all the time. I mean, waking people up at 2 in the morning by blasting your stereo and screaming demonstrates such an incredible lack of concern for the welfare of others. And that's just one thing. Even little actions, like throwing trash out the car window, spitting gum out onto the sidewalks or roads where someone will walk through it, or leaving cigarette butts lying on the ground. Those are just as bad in my opinion. They show a complete disregard for the next person to travel that way. And they're so easy to remedy! Just throw away the trash in a trash can or swallow the gum - put out the cigarette and throw it away. Or people who refuse to show common courtesy on the roads or in stores. For the love of God, people, it's not hard to be nice to others!!!!!! I think the main problem is that everyone is too damn wrapped up in themselves to think about others. It's the sheer laziness and selfishness of people today that make me sick to my stomach.

In my perfect world, people will be raised by their parents with a concern for others and a sense of decency. I fear those are both something the majority of the American population has lost and this lack is shown through even the smallest actions. It is disturbing, to say the least.

Tired ~ Saturday, June 30, 2001 ~ 4:19 PM

Jen! You're alive! ;-) Good to hear from you again. Hope every thing is okay with the roommate situation.

Today has been extremely boring and uneventful. I got up at 6:30 to complete some work so I could meet my project group at 9. Then the computer lab we needed to use wasn't open, so we went home at about 10:30. I went back to sleep, but Jeff called me and woke me up. It was really sweet of him to call, though. :-) If someone had to wake me up, good thing it was him.

It's raining right now. The three ducks who have been wandering around the dorms for about four weeks now are extremely happy with it. I was really hoping for a big thunderstorm but the rain sounds nice. It makes me sleepy, though and the big cup of hot chocolate isn't helping. I'm about to work on my lab report some more. I'm hoping to get it finished tonight so I can watch movies, but I have the feeling that procrastination may win over.

Current Music: 'Not a Pretty Girl' - Ani DiFranco

Bored ~ Thursday, June 28, 2001 ~ 12:57 PM

Quote of the Day: "This must be Thursday. I never could get the hang of Thursdays." - Arthur from Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Well, I decided to drop the class I started yesterday. I went in, looked over the syllabus, and decided that, given my hell schedual in the fall, if I tried to do a 6 week history class right now with the other two time-consuming 12-week classes I already have, I'd end up in a psychiatric ward somewhere. I'm already constantly busy with Satistics and NatProp and what little free time I have is...well...an illusion, but also very precious. Yeah, I could kill myself with workload this summer, but then I'd have nothing left for the fall. I'm already burned out as it is. I've been taking classes now for six semesters, straight, with nothing more than a week-long break in between (except for Christmas breaks), and I think it's starting to get to me. *twitch twitch*

Still, even with tons of work, I'm bored out of my mind. Statistics is soooo mind-numbing - my brain is turning into mush as I type. Right now I'm waiting until lunch break is over so I can go to the advisment office to drop the history class. I'm trying to do homework, but my attention span is just a hair under nonexistant. Jeff was only here for a couple days, but I'm having to get adjusted to not having him around all over again. :-P

On the upside, today the Univeristy was taken over by a rogue sect of the infamous rodentia cult, Adorable Sqirrels of Doom. Moving with unbelievable speed and cunning, the cute little buggers managed to incapcitate every Univeristy offical while at the same time completely neturalizing the entire police department. The student population was a bit shocked at first, but since there's really been no discernable change in the style of managment, I think we're okay with the changeover in leadership. I'm not sure how the dollar to berries conversion for our tuition is going to work out, but I leave the matter in the very capable paws of our new leaders.

Current Music: 'Basket Case' - Green Day

Farces ~ Wednesday, June 27, 2001 ~ 9:56 AM

Okay, this requires some explanation. About seven years ago me, my sister, and two other friends began writing a Star Wars fan fic about four characters based off of ourselves. I was Ceilo, the bewildered pilot-become-Jedi-adept and NRI agent. My sister was Jade, the bitchy smuggler with a smartass sense of humor. Sarah was Kala, the Jedi Master and veteran NRI operative and Katie (Sarah's sister) was CaT, your typical mentally unbalanced Dark Jedi turned "good" guy. The fan fic sucked, so Kat instead decided to write farces based off the same characters.

At this point, the world of Star Wars abruptly took a turn for the worse. In the first farce, Ceilo is set by Jade and Kala to do battle with the roaches infesting their ship. During a somewhat-less-than epic duel with the roaches' leader, Roach Vader, he reveals himself to be Ceilo's father (apparently that's where she gets her antenna from). The second farce is set during the invasion of Echo Base on Hoth. Our heroines spend most of the battle locked in a storage closet, roasting marshmellows, while Ceilo recovers from having her taun-taun's tounge surgically removed from her face after it froze there while they were out on patrol. The third farce chronicles their escape from Hoth and their heroic acts in blowing up yet ANOTHER Death Star. Of course, they left an entire cell block of fellow rebel pilots on board to die in the explosion, but trust me....they deserved it!

I don't know what we were smoking, honestly. We actually ran through all four farces, but only Episode I was ever recorded. I don't happen to have a copy of that script, which is probably a good thing. But last night, I got really bored and decided to post the farce scripts I could find on my homepage.

I find these farces to be absolutely hysterical, but only because I know all of the inside jokes behind them. I'm afraid not many people will get anything out of reading the scripts, but I figured I'd post about them anyway, for lack of anything more interesting. *shrug* It makes me happy. ;-)

Current Music: 'Do You Sleep' - Lisa Loeb

My Future Home ~ Tuesday, June 26, 2001 ~ 8:53 PM

Mars. My future home. Yeah, so it's a little bleak. Nothing a little civil engineering can't fix. A few domes here and there, possibly some adaptive vegetation, a few other homey accents and you won't even recognize the place! Trust me, this is the new vacation hot spot! Well, maybe not, but I sure hell want to live there.

Yeah, I guess that's a little weird. I mean, Earth is plenty good for the majority of the human population, being home and all. Why would anyone want to try and live on another planet that doesn't even support life? Well, the truth is that I'm just curious and I like challenges. After all, Challenger was my favourite space shuttle....well, at least until it blew up. Now I'd have to say my favourite is Discovery. That aside, Mars is both the ultimate compliment to the insatiably curious AND a challenge. That and my parents just watched too much sci-fi to ever produce a normal child with normal goals. *grin*

See, this universe is a gigantic playground full of amazing things and I feel it really isn't quite right for us to stake off our little tiny speck of a corner and stick to it. There's just waaaaay too much out there for us to twiddle around on one tiny planet, never looking any farther. Mars is kind of a first tiny step out to all of that, in the same way the ISS is the first step out to Mars. Of course, if at some point they accidentally develop advanced propulsion methods and Alpha Centauri suddenly becomes a day trip, I'll be the first to volunteer to go on a galactic jaunt. *grin* I just don't see that happening any time soon. I guess I'll just have to settle for Mars.

Today was a boring as usual day. I spent the morning watching Earth 2 then went to my Statistics class. I've been doing NatProp homework ever since. My third class starts tomorrow. *gag* Starting tomorrow, I have history four days a week, from noon until 1:40. Yuckiness abounds.

Oh yeah, and as I was levaing for class, the phone rang. I answered it and it turned out to be Jeff, calling specifically to gloat over the fact that he was on the beach in the sun while I was gearing up in my wet suit and flippers to "walk" to class in a thunderstorm. That's okay, Jeff. I have yummy homemade chocolate cake and you don't!!! So hah!!

Current Music: 'The Old Ways' - Loreena McKennitt

Whee! ~ Monday, June 25, 2001 ~ 9:57 PM

Quote of the Day: "Don't listen to him! He's trying to lead you down the path of righteousness! I'm gonna lead you down the path that ROCKS!" - Kronk's shoulder devil

I had a really great weekend!! Jeff came up to Huntsville on Thursday to visit everyone. It was fun! Saturday we went out to dinner with Jeff's old roommates and Sunday we hung out at Deb's and cooked steaks and stuff. Jeff also got to come to the Vampire meeting Thursday and see everyone. The rest of the time he and I hung out, watching movies and stuff. It was a wonderful weekend!

Unfortunantly, he had to go home today. *piteous sniffle* We went out to lunch after I got out of lab, then he left around 1. That was all sad and stuff, but the rest of my day was actually pretty good. My classes went remarkably well, I understood my homework for once, and I got to sit around and watch a movie tonight. *grin* I just wish Jeff were here.

Today I finally got to upload the site I've been working on for our Camarilla chapter. You can see it here. I'm still working on the venues page, but other than that it's mostly done. If I had more energy, I might be creative and finish it tonight, but I really think I'd rather go to sleep.

*yawn* I'm terribly sorry, but I really don't have much to talk about at all. I spent my weekend being extremely lazy and intend to spend tomorrow doing the same (after all I have to rest before my third class starts up on Wednesday). Nice in theory, but the end result of all this laziness is that I'm very boring right now. *shrug* Check back in a few days when something interesting has happened. ;-) Until then, toodles!

Current Music: 'Don't Think of Me' - Dido